Tool for replacing bottle caps and recrimping the caps in an airtight seal



June 9, 1953 H. H. SANDER 2,641,397

TOOL FOR REPLACING BOTTLE CAPS. AND RECRIMPING THE CAPS IN .AN AIRTIGHTSEAL Filed May 8. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet l IN1/Ewan Hownea. H. .SAA/o5@ cm9 uM/v4 June 9, 1953 H H, SANDER 2,641,397

TOOL FOR REPLACING BOTTLE CAPS, AND RECRIMPING THE CAPS IN AN AIRTIGHTSEAL Filed May 8. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 9, 1953 H. H. SANDER2,641,397

TOOL FOR REPLACING BOTTLE CAPS. AND RECRIMPING THE CAPS IN AN AIRTIGHTSEAL Filed May 8. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. How/wo H. SANDER dige.

Patented June 9, 195B T'GL" FOR 'REPEACING BOTTLEE-CAPSAND RE CEHMPINGTHE yCAPSl 'IN -'AN 'AIRTIGHTZ' HowardfH.. Sander, Laramie, `.Wy.o.assigner of one-half .to Norman Camenker, Dfuluth, Minn.

Afmiiioaticn May-8, 1950, SeriaLNcilGJQG" l .C-iaim..

Thisainvention;` relates .to :-handeoperatedtools.l ori:l devices z forremoving.' and: recappine .n bottlecaps of 'thetypeicommonly known as,crown` caps such"` as: are.; used. I= for.- sealing; beverage bottles:vIttis Wellj kriowirzthat zin: :thexuse of carbonated 1 beverages..andthelikethe entirefcontents of a. bottlefzarc not always :used and.' it'desiredzfto preserve the remaining contents in soloetamtialfimite-original carbonated condition. Thisreiect is `v:lost unless the@hottie can: be 'immediately' 'ree sealed; in airftight; condition.

Heretofora nur'nerousA devicesr have been de;

viseci-:suohras plugs. andustoppers. for. closing. the

bottle after the original cap has Ybeenremoved butrthese "must :bezfusedinaddition :to .a cap remover andi: a.. separate: plug: device required.

A1s'o,- recapping'. devices, have:

for?.A each ,L bottle; beemprovidedbut :these general-ly are Pof coin;-

plicatedxnature fandtzimzariabiy .they are:difficultvv tor-operate,I`ortheymutilate'.thecap, or they do not'eifect:anairetightzresealing fofthe can# With,- thefresuit thatrsucli recappingsdevicesare not*altogetherr satis'factori/.l

An 4oloiect of myfinventionzgis vto obviate these;

difti'culties'gby the -prcvi'sionxofzan .improved tool or devicefforremovinefcrewntype bottle'capsina manner; Wliichwwiiii not. determi ormutilate the cap, and for resealint,r the bottle, for use in homes andunder ail conditions Where it is desired to removefacp'orticn :oftheicontents ofy f, a soft '.drinlr hottie many-beverage --bctteandttheriv reseai the bottle with; the-crimped apron: A-wort-ion of :thecan snapped. overrth'e siipfportion -of the-bottles andi (third)reecrim'eing; the 'f apron portion ofn the canrunder'thefiip portionof-l'thebott ein such a manner 'aa-to effect an.air-tightreeeaiingyoftheI cap env tha-bottle:-

Anotherv7 object .of myn invention is .to..provide :improved tooll Vor fdevice f of ,the-character described. whichdces not inutilatethe .canwhen removing. 'it from bot-tleiand which' by .simplefand i easy.operations y reappilies the same cap,y to i the bottleeffectivelyireseaisftlogeicep'zon .tliefbott'le softhat the contente:arefpreservediinsuhstantialf ly the some air-tight condition aswhentherh'ottie was originally lled-z Another object of .my invention is toprovide a tool 'or ldeviceofcharacter `describedernliofyingfeatures:vofjconstruction in combina. 'on to perform thefunctionsdescribed..

Anothcrcbject of my inizentioniis tor-.provide .ar-tool orfdevice of thecharacteitdescribedinhere 2?-,l in said Vnovel features tof constructionare capa-1t blefof lmanufacture in differentembodiments and;` suonamanufacturef may be.- at r. a. comparatively! lowrcost, vusingthin,4inexpensive sheet ..metal..-and.a. stampingoperations;

Another object .of .myinventionis., to providee an improved tool. or.device 4having thefadvantagesf described ,and which provides.a-.substantialisure face:4r area for the .presenta-tion: of.Aoperating-gY in, structionsA4 or advertising. matter permanently;thereon..v

Other. objects and. attendant a@ivan-tantas.twill...` be appreciated bythose. skilled-.inr .this artasitiief';t invention becomes.-betterunderstood; by; referrience `to. the following; description when.,consideredc in connection with, :the accompanying...drawing. in;

yFigure 1. is a vertical` longitudinal.. sectongii through: ,a toolembodying. vmyf-invention;,appkedi to a f bottle cap, .inv performing.kthe. rzst -.Adesnriledi` function;

Figure 2.1 is a2.- crossfsection. through.. ther toolf'l taken ion the.section .line 2(-Z ofeFigum. -1

Figure is a :bottom viertel? the-tool.v

Figurey 4-is an enlarged -view .oi.vthetoo1,i partly., in section,showing. it.app 1ie`din. performingntiie e second described. function.;

Figure 5: s,also anenlargeol: View..of. thetoolzAr insection,v showingit appliedin .performirig,the..,r third.. described function.;

Figures 6 and .F7 .-a. side-viewpartlyfinsection.. anda bottomwviem.respectively; of a modified; formV of the invention;

Figures 8 ,and .9 are. a side..view,part1y insee? tion and abottoniview,- respecti-vely; of-.anoth'em modified vforno ofthe invention.;

Figures .10 and llarev a sideviewi. partlygino sectionv anda bottomview,- respectively;.offeneA other .modified4 .form ofthe inventionFigure 12 is, a topf view of still anothenmodifiedi formof the.invention;

Figure.. 1 34v is a. sectional. viewtakennn the fsecf tionlinev lli-310iFigure.12;and 1 l vFigure. 14- 4iis.. abottom. .view .of the'emloodimentshown inf, Figures 12 ..and...13.I

Referring. .cricr.e-..particularly to..Fgures.1 ,toc

5,: Lhavehere shown a.-.pr.ef.erred embodiments.

confiprising an elongatedbody. l'having..A awj aw.: or -clawstructure' i(i at one end andz-Aa rei-'crirrtpff'r inge` structure I! 'l fat'the'.-opp'ositeeendp Jtheseerefere ence,- numerals being.v applied: to.indicatef these-e: parts generally. The-bodygl5 Ais.:stamped.Vfi'omzzsheetfmetal to` ,provide-:an .elongatedflatftoprfwairh portion 13, sidewalls lil; and .semi-:circular: ende walls .2! -I and;r 22,4 Theelower.:edge of theeend--l Wall, ,2 lv .'isffolded; in ,tofprovidet aeproneeor*clame` edge parallel.l with; the. top... wall .rpprtionn 18o andextended along the sidewalls-.at 2lfatocpro5-- Videff ahrfmnel..vharing.: a cap ientrancecpening 25... Attachedtothe Aopposite.end.'.of.the-body, I 5,..

is a cup-shaped die or mold which forms part of the re-crimpingstructure I1 abovementioned.

In performing the rst mentioned functionl the jaw end of the tool isplaced over a capped bottle with the cap in the location shown in dottedlines 26 in Figure 3. The cap is now in the open channel entrance 25. Bymovement of the tool to the right the cap Will be located within the jaw structure as shown in Figure 1, with the jaw edges 23 and 24 engagedbeneath the crimped apron portion 21 of a crown cap 28. 'I'he extendedright hand portion of the tool may now be pressed down by the palm ofthe hand in an easy lever operation to remove the cap from the bottle.

It will be here observed that one of the features of my invention is theapplication of the jaw edges 23 at the end portion of the jaw structureopposite from which the fulcrum occurs. In other words the tool isfulcrumed on the edge of the cap approximately 180 around the edge ofthe cap from the edge portion where the main lifting pressure occurs.The edge portions 24 serve as an additional means in retaining the capin the tool after the cap has been removed. By reason of thisconstruction the cap is not mutilated in the removing operation but isretained in good condition within the jaw structure. To perform thesecond mentioned function of replacing the cap on the bottle, the toolwith the cap retained therein is placed over the bottle and pressed downto the position shown in Figure 4. This snaps the apron portion 21 ofthe cap over the lip portion 29 of the bottle. This operation may beperformed by the one hand which holds the tool; or while so holding thetool to properly position the cap on the bottle the other hand may beused to press down on the end i6. In this movement the cap retainingportion 3l of the tool is pressed flat against the top of the cap anduniformly applies pressure to the cap for snapping it over the bottlerib 29. In this operation the jaw structure is shaped so that the apronportion 21 of the cap is free to expand radially so as to conform tothis snap action. Now, to eect the final sealing of the cap (describedas the third function) the tool is removed by sliding it to the left,viewing Figure 4, until the cap is located out of the jaw structure. Thetool will then be reversed end for end and the die cup will be placedover the cap and pressed down as shown in Figure 5, this movement beingsimilar to that described with reference to the second function. It willbe observed that the annular wall of the die is shaped to convergeinwardly so as to provide a gradually increasing compressioncircumferentially on the apron portion 21 of the cap as the die is moveddownwardly over the cap. In the preferred embodiment this die wall 32 isat an angle of about 3.7 with respect to the vertical through thegreater portion of its length and about at the entrance portion 33 orpreferably a parabolic arc shape at the'entrance as shown in theembodiments hereinafter described. With this construction onlycomparatively small pressure need be applied to the top of the tool toeffect the closing in of the cap apron into a most effective air-tightseal between the cap and the bottle. The total downward re-crimping orresealing stroke is about 1/4" or less. This simple constructioneliminates the use of lever mechanisms and other complicatedconstructions which have been heretofore used for capping operations.

In Figures 6 and 7 I have shown a modified form in Which the body 34 is:flat and is. turned down at one end 35 and inwardly at 36 parallel withthe body 34. The portion 36 is shaped to provide a semi-circular opening31. This provides a jaw structure for removing and retaining a capsubstantially in the manner described. The inner ends of the jaw orprong portion 36 are xed to the body 3d by bars 38 welded or otherwisexedly connected thereto. A die cup 39 of annular form welded orotherwise fixed to the under side of the body 3d, is shaped to providethe Idesired taper walls as previously described.

In Figures 8 and 9 the paw structure is formed on the top side of thebody 4l. In this embodiment the body plate has a circular opening 42 inone end and a retaining portion d3 which spans the jaw opening 42 and iswelded or otherwise fixed to the body plate. The die cup 4d is anannular part welded or otherwise xed to the under side of the body plateadjacent to the jaw end. This leaves an elongated handle-like body platewhich lmay be used to particularly good advantage in applying the toolfor performing the described functions.

In Figures k10 and l1 the tool is stamped and formed from a single pieceof sheet metal providing a body plate 45 a jaw structure d6 on the underside of the body plate and a die cup i1 also on the under side punchedfrom the metal of the body plate.

In Figures l2, 13, and 14 I have shown a further embodiment of myinvention which the body plate i8 is of shorter over-all length and acomparatively short prong A8 is formed at one end.

A die cup 5| generally similar to the describedy die cup I1 is attachedto the opposite end of the body plate at the under side thereof. lAspring clip 52 is attached to the under side of the body plate or it maybe punched from the sheet metal body. This clip 52 is arranged toyieldingly engage and snap under the cap in the manner shown in Figure13 to retain the cap in the tool until after performance of the seconddescribed function.

I claim:

A bottle cap replacing device comprising a relatively long body memberin the form of a metal stamping defining a handle, said body memberhaving curved ends, a depending flange integral with said body memberformed around the entire periphery of said body member including saidcurved ends, a circular ared receptacle having its open end extending inthe same direction as said depending flange disposed at one end of saidhandle and secured thereto Within said peripheral flange with theperiphery of Said receptacle engaging the curved portion of said flangeat said one end of said handle over a portion of the periphery of saidreceptacle, said receptacle having a diameter at its open end to receivea crown type bottle cap and having a gradually decreasing diameter in adirection away from its open end to effect constriction of a crown typecap around a bottle top, and an arcuate' member integral with the flangeat the other end of said handle and extending inwardly of saidReferences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NameDate Bloomeld June 6, 1950 Number Capriccio July 11, 1950 Y*

